NO REST FOR THE WICKED
CHAPTER XV: DON'T WAIT UP
(POCAHONTAS _X_)
"The most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said, and never explained."
XXX
Natsuki ended up staying awake the entire night waiting for her father to return, something she hadn't done since she was a small child who withheld the need and desire to sleep just so she could see her dad before she went to bed, even if it were just for a single moment.
Her back aches from the slouched position she adopted while sitting on the cold metal window-seal as her tired eyes roamed the dark streets in search of her father's bikes. Her ears strained for the mechanical roar that never came.
Shizuru went through hell to get her up this morning. She was torn between skipping school and staying home so Natsuki could catch up on some much needed rest, or just powering through the exhaustion because Reagan didn't like it when Natsuki missed school.
Natsuki continuously reassures her that she's fine and the lack of sleep isn't really bothering her, but Shizuru can plainly see the fatigue in the young woman's body. She's already ready for the day, dressed in yet another designer dress that accentuates her blossoming figure and her voluptuous breasts and hips.
She watches as her girlfriend's sluggishly moves around the room gathering the things she'll need for the long school day. Natsuki pulls a blue hoodie over her shirt and slips a studded belt through the loops of her light denim jeans before she ponders over which shoes she'll wear from her massive collection.
Eventually deciding on a pair of Oreo 4's, the girl smiles tiredly as an indication that she's ready to go. The brunette wraps her arms tightly around Natsuki's neck and presses a loving kiss to her full pink lips that still carry the delicious taste of strawberries from her chapstick.
"She is fine," Shizuru whispers.
Natsuki sighs. "I know, it's just that she usually calls or texts, you know?"
A quick glance at the clock reveals that the couple still has a little over an hour before they actually need to get going. Shizuru sees it as the perfect opportunity for Natsuki to take a little nap. She leads the girl over to the couch and sits down, pulling Natsuki with her and positioning the girl's head in her lap so she could run her fingers through the dark locks she's come to love so much.
"I know," Shizuru replies, "She probably just misplaced her phone or forgot to text you."
Natsuki nods because it is something her father would do, and it's something she did quite often. She yawns and rests her forehead against her girlfriend's belly. Her hand comes up to gently glide over the fabric of Shizuru's dress.
A smile forms on her lips as her mind is suddenly invaded with thoughts of her little girls. She wonders if they'll look like her. Will they take after her or their mother? Will they have her eyes? Will they inherit the long, luscious dark locks that are so familiar with the occupants of the Kruger clan?
Natsuki eventually dozes off to the feeling of Shizuru's perfect fingers combing through her hair. Shizuru hums a lullaby.
Fifteen minutes later the door creaks open and the woman in question stumbles in. Shizuru's lullaby is cut short.
It must be raining because Reagan's hair is plastered to her face, completely soaked. Raindrops dribble down her strong jawline and off the gentle slope of her nose. Shizuru perks up, but Reagan brings a finger to her lips asking for silence.
She gestures to her daughter's sleeping form. The woman slowly approaches the duo and takes a seat on the coffee table right in front of them. "I'm sorry I didn't call or anything," She whispers softly, "I lost my phone."
Shizuru nods in understanding. "She was awake all night."
Reagan's chuckle was husky. "Waiting for me?" Shizuru nodded, and she sighed. "Idiot, I told her to stop doing that."
The dark-haired woman reaches out to stroke her sleeping daughter's head with a loving gentleness that reduces Shizuru's heart to a liquid substance that spreads throughout her entire body.
"Don't wake her. Let her sleep."
Reagan's eyes rise to meet hers and Shizuru's breath hitches momentarily. She's never truly noticed just how beautiful and intense the elder Kruger's eyes are until now. They're lacking their usual playfulness, replaced by an emotion that is nearly impossible to distinguish.
"Shizuru."
Shizuru tilts her head in anticipation for the question she perceives is blossoming on her lips. "Why aren't you home?" She asks softly. Her voice isn't judgemental by any means. Shizuru can only detect genuine curiosity in her husky tone.
Pain erupts on the former Heiress' beautiful face as thoughts of her father and their explosive collision take hold of her once peaceful mind. Her fingers still in Natsuki's hair.
"She is my home." She surprises herself with her blatant declaration. Reagan, however, doesn't share her surprise. She smiles gently. It's one of those smiles that perhaps a terminally ill patient gives the nurse who's been taking care of them since they've been admitted.
Soft. Sad. Gentle. Thankful.
The woman rises. The sudden movement causes the raindrops still clinging to her hair to splatter everywhere.
"Take care of her," Reagan says, looking her dead in the eye. "She'll need you."
"I will." Shizuru replies without a moment's hesitation. Her crimson eyes follow Reagan as the woman makes her way back to the way she came; the door. Brunette brows furrow. "Are you leaving so soon? She really wanted to see you…"
Reagan's shoulders shake. Perhaps from the cold. Perhaps not. She gives the girl a small smile over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I have to." I just needed to see her one last time… "I don't know when I'll be back. Don't wait up, okay?"
Shizuru nods slowly, and with one last troubled look, the dark-haired woman is gone. Natsuki wakes an hour later a bit more enthusiastic. Shizuru tells her what had transpired during her slumber.
"Gah," Natsuki snorts in frustration, "She always avoids me when she knows I'm mad at her. She could've at least said goodbye, though."
"I'm sorry." Shizuru says. "But she didn't want me to wake you."
"It's okay." Natsuki smiles. "It's not your fault. She'll be home later. I'll give her a piece of my mind then. Are you ready to go?"
Shizuru giggles. "Of course."
XXX
Tokyo Slums…
One Hour After Sunrise.
Namikaze's Mansion (Aoi)
The noises Aoi's heels make on the marble floor seem much louder than usual in the quiet corridor. There are rows and rows of men and women clad in black pressed up against the walls, each offering her a respectful bow as she passes by.
She smiles; being Namikaze's favorite has its perk.
Two men open a massive pair of double doors at the very end of the hallway. She enters and flashes them each a thankful smile.
"Aoi," A dark voice cooes from the shadows as she enters the equally dark room. A pair of sinister eyes glow in the darkness as she approaches the figure strewn hazardously across the chair seated in the middle of the room.
Blood stains the floors. Bodies littered with bulletholes and stab wounds lay at her feet. There's blood as red as Aoi's lipstick on her face, her clothes, her throne. Aoi doesn't pay it any mind as she promptly steps over the bodies and seats herself in Namikaze's lap.
Namikaze roughly grips her hips and wraps her strong, bloodstained arms around the exposed skin of Aoi's back where her shirt does little to conceal. Aoi's fingers rid the dreaded stains from Namikaze's youthful face. "My Lord." The young woman murmurs, resting her cheek on her lord's pale, tattooed chest.
"I take it your mission was a success?" Namikaze already knows the answer. Senoh Aoi does not fail. But she cannot help but smile when her pet nods against her flesh. "And how did our dear little puppy react?"
"She thinks she already has everything she could ever want." Aoi's eyes sparkle. "And I've made quite the discovery."
"Oh?"
Aoi nods again and twirls a lock of dark hair around her pale finger. "She has a sweetheart."
"I would expect nothing less from a girl with her looks." Namikaze says, her tone amused yet tinged with boredom.
Aoi grins and leans in closer, kissing the woman's ear softly before speaking into it. "Natsuki's sweetheart is pregnant. With her child, I assume."
Namikaze's relatively impassive features manifest into an expression somewhere along the lines of excitement and surprise. "Are you certain?" She inquires.
Aoi nods. "They are quite fond of each other. I saw them in the hallway. They're good at hiding it, but Natsuki's eyes do not lie. They are incapable of hiding any emotion. I saw the way they lit up when her fingers rested along the curve of her girlfriend's stomach. A curve that is impossible to distinguish unless you were intentionally looking for it. I suspect that she is only a few months along."
Namikaze strokes Aoi's back almost lovingly. This new information is unexpected, but Namikaze knows she can use it to lure the wolf into the cage. "You have done a marvelous job, my dear." Namikaze presses a kiss to the center of Aoi's chest. "You shall be rewarded handsomely."
The older woman rises from the throne and Aoi wraps her legs and arms around Namikaze's body so she won't fall. Namikaze lays her on the table in the corner and rids crawls on top of her. Spreading Aoi's legs, she produces a short stiletto from in between her breasts and uses it to slice through the flimsy fabric of Aoi's clothes, exposing her right down the middle.
The first flick of Namikaze's tongue on her dripping wet sex sends Aoi into a pure state of bliss. Her moans consist of four syllables each and every time. She screams in ecstasy as a pierced tongue pumps in and out easily in between her slick folds. Strong hands hold her down as her nails dig into Namikaze's skull mercilessly.
When she's finished with her, Aoi can't walk for long moments as her legs continue to shake. Namikaze leaves her there, and Aoi curls up for a well-deserved nap, completely unmindful of the carnage only a few meters away.
XXX
A few hours later…
Fuuka High-school.
Room 2A. (Natsuki)
Midori's abandoned the class yet again, although her reasons are unknown. The students are doing what they please, throwing paper balls, talking loudly amongst themselves, on cellphones, or sleeping.
"Where is she?" Chie groans as she casts a desperate glance toward the back where a worn seats remains unoccupied. "I fucking woke up two hours early to pick out something nice to wear, I got a haircut, and I even bought these stupid contacts, but for what? She's not even here!"
"Bummer," Tate says, and Natsuki nods absently.
She does look good, even Natsuki has to admit. But she finds it funny that she went through the trouble of dressing up and looking nice for someone who isn't even here.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon." Mai says as she scribbles down another definition for the vocabulary word she was previously stuck on.
"She better be!" Chie barks.
"Hey, maybe that's her now." Tate says as the sliding doors open, but unfortunately for Chie it's only Midori.
"I give up. I'm just going to have fifty cats and die alone." She mumbles.
Tate snickers and offers half-assed consolation.
"Natsuki."
Natsuki looks up as her teacher's voice reaches her ears. She raises an eyebrow at Midori's expression. She isn't wearing her usual life-living smirk. Her pretty face is sullen, her features grave. "Uh, yeah?" The teenager asks.
Midori scratches the back of her neck. "Mashiro needs you in her office."
Mashiro? Mashiro's the dean of Fuuka high. Natsuki's had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting her far too many times. But she hasn't done anything drastic in almost a month! Nonetheless, she rises from her seat, ignoring the amused snickers from her classmates and Mai's perplexed sigh.
"Tokiha, watch the class." Midori says to the only student she relatively trusts as she leads the dark-haired girl out of the room.
"It wasn't me!" Natsuki says suddenly. "Whatever you're about to blame me for I swear it wasn't me this time. Scout's honor."
Midori shakes her head, but does not reply. Natsuki wracks her mind for anything she's done in the last week that will explain why she's headed for the dean. Then it hits her like a ton of bricks!
Damn, someone must've seen that creep give me liquor and reported it to the dean! Man, dad's going to kill me, Natsuki thinks with a conflicted sigh. Bye-bye bike, and bye-bye life when she finds out that not only did I take it liquor from a stranger, but I got my girl pregnant too.
The girl groans as she hangs her head. I'm so screwed.
Midori enters the dean's office and Natsuki closes the door behind her. There's a multitude of familiar faces gathered there. Nao's seated in the corner looking only seconds away from killing herself with the rubber-band she's popping against her wrist in sheer boredom.
Nina's face is twisted with anxiety. She's never been called to the dean's office before. She aims a fierce glare in her cousin's direction. This is your fault, she mouths furiously.
I didn't do anything! Natsuki mouths back.
The school nurse, Yoko, is standing near Midori. The assistant dean, Fumi, is standing behind Mashiro with her hands placed delicately on the paralyzed woman's frail shoulders. All of their expressions are grave.
"Miss Kruger," Mashiro begins, although she pauses to clear her voice because it shakes and cracks at the end of her sentence. There is a pain in her eyes that Natsuki has never seen before. Like she's about to break someone's heart.
"Look, I don't know what you saw, but I swear it isn't what it looked like! I don't even know her, I swear. She just gave it to me…" She defends herself lamely.
"What?" Mashiro's face contorts into an expression of confusion.
Oh, maybe I'm not in trouble… damn, I just almost snitched on myself. "Uh, never mind," Natsuki says with a light laugh, "What's up?"
She sees Yoko turn away and bury her face into Midori's neck. The red-haired woman rubs her back reassuringly, but her eyes water.
"I've called you three here because you are all in relation to Reagan Kruger," Mashiro chokes out. "Her daughter, her young second cousin, and her adopted daughter. Her name is written on each of your emergency cards. She is named as the legal guardian for Miss Juliet and Miss Kruger."
Oh no, Natsuki winced, dad, what'd you do this time?
Mashiro pinches the bridge of her nose as she feels the bile rise in the back of her throat. She can't go on. Instead, she reaches for the remote on her desk and switches on the TV perched on the wall above her head.
There's a reporter wearing a black suit standing in front of what looks like an exploded building. There's fire and smoke everywhere. Glass and debris on the floor, ash in the air, emergency services scrambling back and forth hollering in urgent voices to each other. Natsuki frowns and stares intently at the TV.
Mashiro turns the volume all the way up.
"... If you've just joined us, this is Yuri Nishimura reporting live from Marguerite Industries in downtown Tokyo, where a massive explosion of unknown sources has taken place. Although, authorities and workers are uttering mumblings of an accidental fuel leakage that proved fatal, leaving hundreds injured and a few casualties. Amongst the casualties is head Engineer, Reagan Kruger, who had been seen nearly by all in the same room as the jet that blew the entire place to Kingdom Come." He reports in a voice wracked by sorrow for the lost. There's a picture of Reagan in the far right corner, smiling from ear to ear like she always did…
"She was right there," A horrified witness says as she closes her eyes, probably trying to dispel the images from her mind. "I asked her if she needed any help and she said she was almost finished, so I turned around and walked out of the garage. Then there was the explosion... I heard a scream, but I don't know if it was hers or my own…"
"It's sad," Another witness says, baffled, "From what I've heard she's got a kid back home. I send my condolences to her and her family."
The rest of the interviews are simply blurred noises to Natsuki, who has seemingly lost the ability to breathe. Her iPhone slips from her grasp and shatters as it lands on the floor face-first. "Oh god." Nina chokes out and buries her face into Nao's shoulder.
Nao's eyes rapidly fill with tears that she desperately tries to blink back. She's trying to be strong. For Nina. For Natsuki. For herself. But when they come they come in numbers far too great for her to push back.
"Da...ddy." Natsuki utters as her vision becomes distorted. She shakily takes a step back. And another. And another until she's pressed up against the wall, she doesn't trust her legs to keep her upright anymore. "Dad…" She moans, her voice raw with pain. "Dad…"
XXX
"Daddy!"
Reagan huffed as a tiny figure came barrelling down the staircase and practically leapt into her arms. She grinned and dropped her bags, lifting her daughter high in the air. "Hey, what're you doing up, 'Suki? It's way past your bedtime."
"I was waiting for you!" Natsuki said, excitement pouring from her gigantic green eyes. She's barely ten, but her eyes are as vulnerable and expressive as a newborn babe's. Reagan settled the girl on her hip, and Natsuki rested her cheek on her chest.
"I thought I told you not to wait up." Reagan murmured as she kissed the top of her baby girl's head.
"But daddy has to give me my goodnight kiss otherwise I can't sleep. And I wanted to see you. You've been gone all day." Natsuki pouted, playing with the long strands of hair laying on Reagan's chest.
Her features softened. She brought her small knuckles to her lips and kissed the back of them lovingly. "Come on, let's get you to bed before grandma finds out you've been awake this entire time."
It was almost three in the morning, and Natsuki had been awake since eight. The young father carried the little girl up the stairs of her mother's house to the room at the very end of the hall. She laid the child on the bed and sat on the edge of it, stroking her daughter's dark hair as she gazed tiredly up at her with triumphant eyes.
"When will you learn?" Reagan shook her head fondly. "You can't always wait for me." One day I may not come back, she added sorrowfully.
Natsuki furiously shook her head and grabbed her dad's hand. Tucking it under her chin. "Daddy, you promised you'd always come back. So I'll wait for you always." The little girl mumbled tiredly as her eyes began to droop.
Should've known you'd be as stubborn as your mother, Reagan thought. She leaned over to kiss her daughter on the forehead with a whispered 'I love you' and made a move to get up, pausing when she realized Natsuki still had her hand in a death grip.
She didn't have the heart to remove it. Instead she just laid back on the bed and let the exhaustion of the day and the sound of the rain lull her to sleep.
XXX
"You… promised…" Natsuki mumbles as a waterfall of tears spilled over her cheeks. She clenches her teeth in an effort to stop the agonized scream from breaking the barriers of her wall of false stability.
I'll always be here for you. I promise.
"You… promised…"
"Natsuki!" Nina and Nao shout in unison when the girl suddenly turns tail and runs out of the room.
"You… promised…"
Don't wait up for me, okay?
"You… promised…"
"Reagan," Her grandmother's voice somehow entered her foggy mind. "Come home soon." Reagan's eyes softened considerably as she swept her mother up in a tight bear hug.
"I promise I'll come see you every chance I get. I'll even leave the beer here as a testament of how serious I am. Don't let Kenshi drink it, though."
"You… promised…" Natsuki runs down hallway, as it begins to fill with students. She hadn't even known the bell had rang. She can't hear anything other than her own pained sobs.
It's raining outside. She's soaked within moments as she runs the short distance to her bike and straddles it. Her helmet slips off the seat and crashes to the floor. She doesn't bother picking it up. She just lets it roll away as she fires up the bike.
"Natsuki!" Nao cries from the school entrance. Natsuki doesn't hear her as she speeds off in the direction of the smoke steadily rising from the explosion that had taken one of the most important women in her life, and a piece of her in the process.
"Natsuki…" Nao sniffles as she picks up the now cracked helmet and cradles it to her chest. It's Reagan's old helmet. Her name is still etched above the visor. And it only makes the tears saltier.
"Nao-san?"
Nao's head whips around as Shizuru's worried voice sounds over the roaring in her ears. She must've seen Natsuki run past.
Damn it, Nao curses as she falls to her knees. Damn it, damn it, damn it! She brings her fist down harshly on the concrete.
XXX
Namiko hums happily to herself as she finishes drying the last of the dishes from her and Riku's late lunch. Duran rests near her feet, his ears flicking back and forth in irritation as a fly continues its assault on his furry appendages.
Her kimono hugs her figure beautifully as her long, knee-length black hair billows in the wind like a dark flag. Riku's in the living room listening to the television. She can somewhat hear it from where she is standing.
Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking startles her out of her thoughts. A worried frown forms on her beautiful, aged face. "Riku? Are you alright?" She calls, but the woman does not answer. Duran lifts his head, his eyes equally troubled.
"Riku?" Once again, there's no answer. Namiko sets the dishrag down and makes her way to the living room, where Riku stands in front of the TV, seemingly frozen in time.
"Riku." Namiko tsks at the mess she's made. A broken tea cup lays at her feet, shattered into a million pieces on the old rug. "Are you alright, dear?"
"Obaa-san." Riku's voice is ragged, pain-ridden. Namiko hasn't heard such agony in her tone since she was told she'd be blind forever.
"Riku? What's going…"
"... Japan's #1 Engineering Industry suffers a devastating explosion that has undisputedly claimed the lives of four workers. Among those four is Head Engineer Reagan Kruger, who was in the same room in which the explosion occurred…"
A windchime sang happily in the breeze.
A previously shattered soul shatters again.
An age old wound reopens.
Hearts break in unison.
And the suffering begins again.
"My child…" Namiko moans as a familiar numbness settled over her battleworn body and soul. "Reagan!" She screams in a voice so raw with emotion Duran throws his head back and howls like the wolf he is inside.
XXX
"Be good, my child, and let who will be clever; do noble deeds, not dream them all day long; and so make life, death, and that vast forever one grand, sweet song."
Charles Kingsley